Viola, but they’d only ever been friends. In an effort to look civilized, Viola ran a comb through her hair, straightened her gown, and limped to the doorway. As she leaned on the door frame, she watched a flatbed wagon make its slow approach.
Her thoughts drifted back to Titus. She’d always pictured her first kiss as being wonderful and pure. Instead, he’d slammed his lips against hers, heated her blood, and sent her spirit soaring skyward. With hindsight, she wanted to wash her mouth with mint tea. That or yell for him to come back and bed her.
It had taken guts to carve his way into the heart of a murder thorn to rescue a stranger. He could have kept moving and said nothing or sent a rescue party from town. Instead, he’d risked his own safety to save Tansy.
No matter what Viola’s common sense said, her body cried out for Titus to kiss her again. Her lips felt dry and far too naked without his mouth pressed against them, and her cunt overheated when she imagined his cock pumping in her pussy. Zebadiah would send his bullies to take the throat of any wolf she took to her bed, but Titus embodied everything she wanted in a lover, except for his allegiance to the alpha. He’d left her aching and needy when he’d walked away.
“Forget him,” she told herself. It wouldn’t be easy, but she needed to concentrate on her day-to-day survival She kept her wares hidden in a canvas bag beneath the vegetables in her root cellar. Once she’d unearthed it, she sat with her back against the wall and tried to calm her out-of-control emotions. She’d need her wits about her to bargain with her best and only customer. At least his coming to collect Tansy would save Viola a long, painful walk into Prowlerville.
Daniel dropped the reins and hurried to his unconscious mate’s side. “How is she? I’d have flashed here, but since King Caleb’s put a death sentence on anyone flashing without their alpha’s permission, I didn’t dare. I’ve already stepped out of line too often. I should have kept my head down and my mouth shut rather than speak up against the alpha, and now my mate suffers for it. I won’t make things worse, not when so many of the pack’s she-wolves have vanished over the years.”
Viola laid her hand on Tansy’s forehead. “She’s lucky. Most people come off far worse when they tangle with a murder thorn. I have a tincture of willow bark and meadowsweet here that will help with any residual pain.”
The storekeeper nodded but looked uneasy. “Thanks. This seems churlish in view of how you’ve helped Tansy, but I daren’t trade with you again. I think the attack was Zebadiah’s way of telling me to toe his line.”
Viola closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, but her stomach churned, and she felt sick. Living half-wild and isolated in the woods, she couldn’t even afford the cost of a few chickens, let alone a horse.
She’d survived the flames, but all she possessed were the clothes on her back. If she hadn’t remembered the old hunters’ den, she’d have been sleeping rough. Most packs would have rallied around and helped her start over, but Zebadiah had forbidden the Rock Prowlers from aiding her. Just buying food and vegetable seeds had left her without enough money for furniture.
Daniel’s hand lingered on hers as he took the tincture. His gaze held nothing but compassion. “I’m so sorry, love, but my mate’s welfare comes before anything. I’ll wash the bottle and return it. I know how much the trade means to you, but Tansy’s life is too high a price no matter how good your remedies and herbal treatments.”
Despite her forced smile, Viola wanted to throw up. Her vision blurred, right along with her thoughts. She wouldn’t survive if she didn’t sell her products, and without cash for fresh meat, she’d starve. She leaned against the flimsy wall and breathed deeply. Finally, her brain kicked back into action. “Can you at least give me a ride into the